No. When you’ve chosen a new deal, your new supplier will handle the switching process. They’ll contact you to let you know what date you’ll be transferred over, and they’ll contact you around the switching date to ask for a meter reading. They’ll pass this on to your old supplier so they can send you a final bill. You don’t need to contact your old supplier, as the new supplier will handle everything for you.

For example, shoppers for Texas electricity plans in the 77494 ZIP code in Katy, TX, could find 12-month plans for 6.8 cents/kWh in February; by June, electricity rates had increased 27 percent to 9.3 cents/kWh. As of early September, 12-month plans were up again, to 9.9 cents/kWh – a 6.5 percent hike from June and a 46 percent increase just since February.

Utilities, or energy companies, in Maryland offer customers information to know how much they are spending on electric supply each month. Baltimore Gas & Electric Co., for example, provides a tool known as the Standard Offer Service, which shows customers how much they can expect to pay for energy supply each month. Current supply rates show that BGE customers will pay 8.225 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh). ChooseEnergy.com, as of mid-May, offers a 36-month plan that could save 13 percent on that rate now.
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Canadian electricity is cheap at 10 US cents per kilowatt hour, which is reflected in their high average electricity usage. US electricity prices at 0.12 $/kWh are also quite cheap internationally. In India and China they are very cheap. The UK is in the middle at 20 cents. It’s relatively expensive globally but not too bad for Europe, where most countries pay a high share of tax on their power.
ElectricityPlans makes shopping for electricity plans simple and intuitive. We give you the search tools you need to narrow your electricity plan search to specific contract lengths. In addition, you can use advanced search to narrow the search for the perfect electricity plan even further by searching for 100% renewable, prepaid plans, or electricity + extra stuff, for example. We also show each plan’s popularity over the past 30 days so you know what other electricity shoppers have selected.
The freedom to choose your energy rates in Maryland is not only available in homes but also to commercial customers. In fact, more than 90% of large businesses in the state have enrolled with alternative suppliers. This competition between energy suppliers to provide lower prices for businesses could be why commercial electric prices in Maryland are lower than the national average this year. If the same competition between suppliers existed for residential customers, prices might also decrease. However, without participation in energy choice, suppliers are not forced to compete for your business. Want to see the available rates? Enter your ZIP code above.

Variable Rate Plans: Designed as month-to-month contracts, these plans are in total control of your energy provider, which can shift the price you pay per kWh at its discretion. This means you, the consumer, are in a better place to reap the benefits when the energy market falls — but it also means you're at risk for hikes in prices, whether as a result of natural disasters or the provider's bottom line. Variable plans always offer a full year of price history to show the average price per kWh so you can get a sense of what you're getting into (like this one from Reliant) and know this: Variable plans don't have cancellation fees. You can cut your service at any time — a huge incentive for REPs to keep their prices reasonable.

Because prices from energy companies in Maryland rise and fall depending on the wholesale price of energy, residents may want a more stable rate for a longer period. A fixed-rate energy plan offers you just that, with a consistent rate for the duration of your agreement at current energy prices – regardless of fluctuations in the energy market. This could mean protection from rate spikes and savings for electric utility customers.
Variable Rate Plans: Designed as month-to-month contracts, these plans are in total control of your energy provider, which can shift the price you pay per kWh at its discretion. This means you, the consumer, are in a better place to reap the benefits when the energy market falls — but it also means you're at risk for hikes in prices, whether as a result of natural disasters or the provider's bottom line. Variable plans always offer a full year of price history to show the average price per kWh so you can get a sense of what you're getting into (like this one from Reliant) and know this: Variable plans don't have cancellation fees. You can cut your service at any time — a huge incentive for REPs to keep their prices reasonable.
Knowing how much electricity you use each month is important to finding the cheapest electricity plan. For Houstonians, usage is typically the lowest in the winter and highest in the summer. Your specific usage levels can be determined by simply looking back at previous electric bills and finding the kWh used. To avoid electric bill surprises during the peak summer months, you’ll need to accurately know your peak electricity usage which typically occurs in August.
SFE Energy is a division of a multi-million dollar international corporation that services hundreds of thousands of electricity, natural gas, and home services customers across the Northeastern United States and Canada. SFE Energy’s parent company, Summitt Energy, opened its doors in 2006, thriving in one of the most competitive and highly regulated energy markets in North America. SFE Energy is a leading competitive supplier of electricity & natural gas for homes and businesses, and one of the largest privately-held retail energy companies in North America.
Even though customers in deregulated Texas markets routinely pay more for electricity, there is a bright spot. The gap between the average price paid for electricity between deregulated and regulated market has shrunk to 8.8 percent. In 2006, customers in deregulated cities were paying nearly 47 percent more for electricity than their counterparts in regulated cities.
We've pioneered our techniques and grown our expertise in the retail energy industry for more than a decade. With hundreds of thousands of customers and firm investor backing, we're a company you can count on. Spark Energy is also proud to be a publically traded company: our NASDAQ ticker is SPKE. Visit our investor relations page for more information.